We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality. - Iris Murdoch // The interplay of thought and imagination is far superior to that of muscle and sinew. - Isaac Asimov // The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. - Emily Dickinson // A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. - Lao Tzu // Do whatever you will, but first be such as are able to will. - Friedrich Nietzsche // The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses. - Francis Bacon // Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are. - Soren Kierkegaard // The possible ranks higher than the actual. - Martin Heidegger //

In general there is some slight overlap in titles discussed by the various reviewers.

Interestingly, it looks like I'm the only one who recommended new 2009 short story collections by Jack Skillingstead and James van Pelt. That's a shame, considering the strength of their work.

For more on what people enjoyed in 2009 check out the epic five-part post over at SF Signal's Mind-Meld. (Jot down all the titles that overlap with SH recommendations and then immediately ignore those; if both reviewers AND writers/editors liked them, surely they have to be too "popular" to be any good. Just kidding.)